This is a good article explaining the unofficial triumvirate behind the Tomos of the OCU. All are focused on weakening the Russian Church that represents the greatest part of the Orthodox Church. – If the Local Churches don’t step in and clip the Ecumenical Patriarch’s wings, it could alter the course of the Orthodox Church forever.
“. . . The Vatican is the unconditional centre of the Catholic world. The Phanar claims unconditional primacy in the Orthodox world. By its actions, the United States claims to be unconditional hegemony in the political world. And all these structures are in close relationships with each other and lobby the interests of this unofficial triumvirate. The issue of the OCU recognition is obviously in the sphere of interests of all three key players – the Phanar, the State Department, and the Vatican since it weakens the Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox Churches.”
What are the odds of the local Churches actually stepping in and doing this? Bartholomew has been teetering on the edge for a long time, nary a peep from the hierarchy…even this fiasco in Ukraine where unrepentant schismatics and those who aren’t even validly ordained has garnered very little public reaction from the Churches…that is the most telling of all.
To be fair, many of the Churches have forbid their clergy from celebrating with the Ukrainian schismatics and the patriarchs of Cyprus, Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria have tried to mend the situation. But, this is a grievously serious situation that demands action and clarity.
The idea that some of our hierarchy have that there cannot be a pan-Orthodox council/ecumenical council until the Patriarch of Constantinople calls it is just absolutely absurd. Most of the heresies in the Church have come from THAT Patriarchate, and this time is no different. Our hierarchs need to man up and take care of this situation before countless souls are led to damnation because of the actions of Istanbul. What faith are we suppose to have in them if they just let this happen and keep silent?
“The road to hell is paved with the bones of priests and monks, and the skulls of bishops are the lampposts that light the path.”
Agreed. Councils have been called by laymen in the past.
Can’t the laity also take a bishop to Spiritual Court?
In accordance with the canonical tradition of the Orthodox Church there are several ways of doing this, but ultimately only a bishop can charge another bishop in a spiritual court.
This means that if the laity have some grievances against their bishop which cannot be resolved by and within their local church’s Holy Synod of Bishops, at least one of the bishops of that synod must bring charges and accuse the putatively errant bishop before a spiritual court.
Alternatively, a spiritual court can be convened consisting of the primates of ‘neighboring’ churches, but this approach isn’t anticipated unless it is a primate himself who is being accused.
Generally, bishops are not brought before spiritual courts because they either leave The Church over their ‘issues’, or are self-deposed because of them and returned to lay status themselves. This is acknowledged rather than imposed by a local church’s Holy Synod. Should a former bishop attempt to officiate after being laicized, all his ministrations are ineffective and he incurs an automatic excommunication.
One of the other factors underlying the rarity of bishops’ being called before a spiritual court is that the ancient Roman lex talionis (‘law of retaliation’) is still an operative principle in canonical practice. This means that if anyone (a bishop, in this case) brings charges against a bishop and those charges are determined to be false and the accused bishop is found innocent and exonerated, then the bishop who brought the false charges is assigned the same penalties as would have ensued the conviction of the bishop he had wrongly accused: deposition from office and/or excommunication.
It would involve some serious motivation and absolute certainty of his case for a bishop to take such a risk.
Thank you, Father. If a bishop within the Holy Synod asks for a spiritual court, are there only certain charges that can be brought against a bishop?
No, dear Gail.
. A bishop may — if he must — bring charges against a fellow bishop within his local church’s Holy Synod and (if need be) before a spiritual court for any sort of infraction against the canons, against the moral standards of The Church, or against the civil law of the land.
In this last instance, at least, the local police must be informed.
PLEASE NOTE: It is canonically irregular, and perhaps impossible, for a bishop to bring charges against a fellow bishop who sits in another local church’s synod. Because of the canonical disarray in which we must function in (at least) North America, this restriction might have to be set aside for the good of the Christian people when an urgent matter arises. Only the most craven and cowardly among the bishops would seek safety in canonical formalities should such an awful thing happen.
On the other hand, if a bishop or any other clergyman is convicted (not merely accused) of a crime under civil law, his local church will ordinarily convene a spiritual court to determine whether or not such a civil crime is also a violation of the tradition of The Church.
This could happen, especially in nations whose governments persecute The Church. What would happen in the United States of America, for instance, if a bishop were convicted in civil law for preaching against same-sex marriage or abortion?
A persecution is coming. May the Lord give us the strength to be faithful!
Most interesting, from an ecclesiastical lawyer’s point of view!
Not too relevant, perhaps, but the Presbyterians are very due-process minded and have at the Presbytery level (the next level above congregations, encompassing a region) a Permanent Judicial Commission, which is convened to hear cases against either parishioners or clergy.
Along the lines of what MJS says, matters seldom go to trial, because the accused will usually have left the church, or accepted discipline long before any trial would take place.
That said, I tried two cases before the area Permanent Judicial Commission, defending ministers accused of serious moral failings. These were separate, and long ago, and represented the only actual trials that had taken place within living memory.
Nearest thing to a canon lawyer….heterodox version!
I am beginning to wonder if any of us are really concerned about salvation anymore?
Michael, touche! Unfortunately, this is what St Paul meant by “scandal”. It is a stumbling block mainly because it’s a distraction –perhaps necessary–but still it takes our mind off the ball (which is our own personal salvation).
And here we have this news that has come out:
https://www.romfea.news/the-us-consul-general-to-the-metropolitan-of-langadas/
Let’s not forget this is the Metropolitan that just recently concelebrated with the Ukrainian Schismatics
You appear not to realize that this website, spzh.news, is a product of the infamous Russian troll army. It has no purpose except to advance the larger Russian geopolitical agenda, which involves trolling “Second Rome” in the push for “Third Rome” to achieve its “destined” ascendancy.
This website was thrown together shortly before the Ukraine Tomos, in anticipation of it, no doubt. It may appear to have archives stretching into a longer past, but there is nothing there. The vast preponderance of articles are about the EP and Ukraine. It is a balalaika with a single string. The writing—far from being journalistic or even professional—is amateurish, partial, and inflammatory.
Are there elements of truth? Certainly. But when dealing with professional trolls, one should accept nothing without independent verification. (Independent = NOT another Russian troll army site … of which there are plenty, alas.)
What’s that expression? Even a broken clock is right twice a day. 100% of what’s written here is documented elsewhere. If it advances the larger Russian geopolitical agenda, so be it.
Of course their info is repeated elsewhere: that’s how a disinformation campaign works. You flood the public arena with the same half-truths over and over until they are accepted as unquestioned facts. The Russian troll farms are experts at this technique.
Your broken clock analogy can be used to justify just about any propaganda source imaginable, including Joseph Goebbels and the serpent in Eden. One hopes for discernment from Orthodox Christians. Half-truths are more dangerous than outright lies. And professional Internet trolls are trained in using half-truths to the fullest effect.
Tell, me then: What about this are you disputing?
Martin, if I may buttress Gail’s question, perhaps by asking a separate question: what exactly was so pristine about our own “free press” during the run-up to the First and Second Iraq Wars? Remember how we swallowed whole-hog that story about Iraqi soldiers throwing Kuwaiti babies out of their incubators?
Or just the other day, when two New York Times reporters “reported” that a young Brett Kavanaugh shoved his penis in a woman’s hand during a frat party at Yale? And that they left out the crucial fact that she didn’t remember it? Their mealy-mouthed excuse was given only because they were caught in lie.
When it comes to the Yale story, the key question is: is Max Stier credible or not.
Considering the lengths the likes of George Michalopulos will go to in going to bat for the liar Kavanaugh, and considering the abuse and threats Ford received as a result of her courage in going public, it is not terribly surprising the subject of this story went with “cannot recall”.
Because, you know, the stakes are angry men calling you a lying strumpet and sending you death threats. And it won’t make any difference anyway. Especially now that the man in question has his lifelong tenure gig and is untouchable.
Boy have you gone off the deep end. It was clear to everybody and their uncle that Christine Floozy Ford was not only a liar but a world-class loon.
But riddle me this, Batman: how exactly does one push his penis into a woman’s hand? Also how come she doesn’t remember it? I think I would remember such a thing.
Is it possibly because Stier is liar, who worked for the Clinton’s during the whole Lewinsky thing? Anyway, this whole thing has blown up in the Corporate Media’s face and is only helping to eradicate what little credibility they have left. Feel free if you want to hitch your wagon to their star.
As far as “death threats” are concerned, the Kavanaugh family have to live with a round-the-clock security detail. We’re talking about two teenage girls as well as an innocent housewife.
Man oh man, you libs don’t understand the demons you’re unleashing. It’s gonna be bad, really bad. But then, you’ve only got yourselves to blame.
It is a testament to how in the tank you are that you can so blithely ignore Kavanaugh’s assorted lies about his past, and proclaim he was the credible one and Ford was a ‘loon’. Meanwhile everybody who has ever dealt with an alcoholic or abuser in their past had alarm bells galore going off when watching Kavanaugh’s rant in front of Congress.
Of course, you were busy pushing the false ‘choir boy’ narrative, so I guess your hands are so dirty you have to stick with it, integrity be damned.
Riddle me THIS Batman: if having a penis put in your hand is such a memorable thing, then isn’t it easy to state definitively it has never happened to you? But the woman didn’t state that, did she?
Saying you don’t recall, is of course the safe answer done in many a confirmation hearing. It’s the safe out of having to admit something inconvenient, dangerous or damaging.
And again, if she tells the truth, you’re going to call her a liar and a floozy, and nothing will change and she’ll get death threats.
In a just world, I wish you were required to choose whether to make a moral stand with adverse consequences like Ford faced. Based on your blog, I don’t think you have the mettle.
I’ll hitch my wagon to the pursuit of truth and justice. You’ve hitched yours to Trump, and he’ll take every remaining scrap of honor and dignity you have leave and leave you used up and limping along the side of the road. So there’s that.
You’re truly loony. Everybody who heard Ford’s testimony knew she was lying. Even her own father went up to Kavanaugh’s father at their country club and shook his hand, telling him that he hoped his son got on SCOTUS.
Figger that one out Batman.
As for “truth and justice” tell me what exactly happened to Hillary’s 33,000 emails, or what happened to Epstein. Or how “that video” (which noboby saw) caused the people to overthrow Khaddafi and thereby turn Libya into an open-air slave-market where Africans are being castrated. Then when you can inform us about the truth those things (and under whose watch they happened) you can come talking to me.
Trump is a freaking choir boy compared to that crew.
Your assertion that “Everybody who heard Ford’s testimony knew she was lying” is, of course, false.
Ford’s father being a bad dad has little to do with the veracity of her story.
Your litany of sad tired right-wing loony theories and talking points which either have no basis in reality, or take a valid quibble but distort it beyond the bounds of truth to a dishonest framing are not really a counterargument.
It’s kind of fun that a guy who likes rhapsodizing about Orwell will rush to be the first to agree when Trump proclaims we have always been at war with Eastasia.
Trump is not only worse than all the actual bad things the Clintons and Obama ever did or were responsible for, he’s worse than all the fictional things you ascribe to the Clintons and Obama that they never actually did.
That’s some feat, really.
The problem is, you just described how most American news services are working.We must also remember that propaganda does not equal misinformation. What information source do you suggest is reliable? It’s not like Tim Pool is covering this so it kinda becomes incumbent on you to provide some fact checking with reliable sources. The problem you face is that CNN has made “Russian Trolls” a punchline to a bad joke. I’m sure they have such things, China does and I am sure we do as well. So do you have any reliable sources to challenge these claims? Any objective journalism? Like I said, Tim Pool and Subverse haven’t covered this. I don’t envy you the task you have set for yourself. Today’s information environment is heavily corrupted and I am much more inclined to accept Russian Accounts than most American accounts. I mean, our journalists are better than China’s but that’s a real low bar.
Fake news is news you don’t like.
Touché.
Gail, the problem is the UOJ is doing a upstanding job explaining how and why we got in this mess in the first place. The ukie nationals and State Department types are upset at the success they are having.
One only has to google UOJ and down the page one finds a article from the Euromaidan Press. Just see who wrote the garbage MR is attempting to pass as truth .
I can easily accept the possibility that sites like these may well be full of propaganda mingled with truth. Name a ‘news’ organization that isn’t. I can also accept that the Russian state, like all states, is busily advancing its own agenda using any means necessary, including the Church. – or at least what appears to be the Church.
However, we don’t need the information on such sites. We don’t need ‘dirty little suggestions’ about political motives, semi-secret ‘deals,’ unholy alliances, or allegations of bribery to see that what the Patriarch of Constantinople has done – and continues to do – is a betrayal of the Christ and His Church. Whatever his motives may be, either according to these sites or even according to the purity and ‘selflessness’ he ascribes to himself, matters not one whit.
In the course of my Christian life, I have heard all sorts of speculation about what motivated Judas to betray Christ. Object lessons for us though they may be, the motivation of one “who dared such things against the Master” ultimately matters not, as there can be no good motivation for the betrayal of Christ or of His Church. Whether dressed up to appear pretty to the world or propagandized by some state actor into something it isn’t, it is the hour of darkness.
True that. Does anybody really believe anymore that out own news media isn’t a tool of the Military Industrial Complex?
Of course, I believe our media, George! Why, all of our problems are the fault of evil Mr. Trump and evil Mr. Putin. Didn’t you know that??
I suspect that our military is the tool of the media-government complex.
The dystopia in which we now live was not imagined by any of the dystopic authors of the 20th century. They all thought the media would be controlled by the state; turns out the state is controlled by the media (or rather, the corporations that own the media—and the (((owners))) of the corporations.)
Just calling it as I see it.
As a reminder, when someone says “the (((owners))) of the corporations” they really mean “an elite Jewish conspiracy”. It’s code.
Hogwash, at any rate.
We indeed are awash in a sea of propaganda. As Orthodox Christians, knowing the wiles of the father of lies who is at work in the children of iniquity, we have a responsibility to not direct each other uncritically to disinformation sources: American, Russian, or Hasbara. I smell a whiff of a Tu Quoque defense in some replies above, but this is a facile dodge. If we wouldn’t direct our friends to accept CNN as a credible source on Orthodox Church issues, neither should we point them to articles of another equally suspect provenance. He that hath ears to hear, …
Nor should we be so ho-hum about the activities of foreign troll armies in American online discourse. Their goal is to break down the social fabric by encouraging polarization in every forum. It is, in a word, evil—sowing seeds of discord among brethren. We should resist the trolls hammer-and-tongs: through civility, through dispassionate logic, through forbearance, and through not spreading their toxin by sharing links to their sites. There is no “so be it” when dealing with professional trolls.
The most effective liar I have ever known is another fellow in my parish. Everything he says is true … but he leaves out enough key information to skew the picture so completely that one draws untrue conclusions. He has raised lying-by-telling-the-truth to an art form. The damage he did while in a position of power is incalculable. He finally was disgraced when someone traced a years-long paper trail to show that he was suppressing certain facts in his presentations. This experience has taught me ever after to question whether I really have the whole story on any given topic. And that restraint has kept me from falling into the snares of liars, again and again; it has also given me an edge in sniffing out Internet trolls. I commend that restraint to all of us. It is fun to seize on one or two facts and then fulminate against the immorality of others. Seldom do we have the whole picture, though. Proverbs 18:17.
Brian, in another comment elsewhere you said rightly, “Only God knows the heart.” So much of the troll brigade writes for the purpose of imputing base motives to others, pretending to know their hearts. The Orthodox principle of not judging others teaches us to avoid this. Again, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
The idea that foreign troll armies are undermining our society is, well, laughably irrelevant. Zuckerburg and Dorsey have done more to undermine our society than any number of foreign agents ever could, all by giving us an electronic dopamine delivery system. So here we are. trying to determine the motives of troll brigades but still no even moderately credible sources have been offered. There is no tu quoque here, simply the request for reasonable evidence. If you say something is full of lies and half truths then the next step in building your argument is to offer evidence. Barring that evidence the simple conclusion is that you have lost the argument (Sometimes I really miss teaching English). I encourage you to take that next step and not to rely on base rhetoric to win people over. I am always looking for reliable journalistic sources that at least acknowledge their own biases.
Because I have a life and am not constantly attached to the Internet, and because of the long lag-times for comment moderation here, I am seeing your challenge only just now, Mr. Harrington. I apologize for not responding as quickly as you demand of me. But perhaps I am not being the unreasonable one in this case.
There is no need for me to repeat here the aims and tactics of trolls: inquisitive minds can research that readily for themselves. Indeed, they can watch a few at work in real-time in the Orthodox blogosphere.
You ask about reliable journalistic sources. In my opinion, there are none. We are, as I said earlier, awash in a sea of propaganda, with no terra firma of truth-telling in sight. The hidden hands that run the world have a death-grip on the media, and especially on the Internet.
I have followed this blog for several years. I have noticed a sharp turn in recent times towards slander, mockery, and wrath. Unsubstantiated rumors are repeated uncritically. None of this helps the work of the Church. I had hoped to correct that a bit by chiming in. I see that I should have obeyed Proverbs 9:8.
Contrary to your sniping, I was not ignoring you previously. But I will be hereafter.
Martin, if I may: every piece I put on here is sourced. Also, I am not wrathful. (Believe me, I’ve been taken to task several times for not coming out with both guns blazing.) Indeed, cognizant as I am of my own sins, I always try to err on the side of mercy.
As for the mockery, OK, I’ll give that one to you. But when it comes to politics and culture, there is much to mock; indeed, it is far better than argumentation. One cannot possibly argue in good faith with an idiot like Julian Castro who thinks women with penises should be allowed to have abortions.
Such blatant idiocy is marker of a civilization in its death-throes. Mockery is the only option available. Think of it as gallows humor.
Maybe the Church is falling apart because we the Church are not holding up our responsibilities. As I remember being told somewhere along my life, there are no second generation Christians. And, the work of the Church is prayer.
We keep thinking that we can reason ourselves out with people who we think are not following the rules, so to speak. It never works. Only Jesus works.
Lina, I do not think the Church is falling apart. At worst, only a archaic, incomplete and distorted structure we tend to think of as the Church is falling apart and that is a good thing. That being said, you are correct that we each need to do more, but we also have the opportunity to do more.
Michael. One would think so by the handwringing that is going on here. I am sure that God is in control. And just maybe God is destroying the the present system of government in the Orthodox Church. But I keep reading about the frustration of so many with the present form of government. And yet it seems that there is no way to change it. High ranking clergy seem to have no accountability. They are dressed like emperors and many seem to act like them. They are enthroned and they are crowned. Which is certainly not the lifestyle of a monk.
Does anyone have any concrete suggestions concerning prayer to bring about change? Does anyone have any suggestions about how to change the present system? Does anyone have a vision of a better form of government?
Brian: “Russian state, like all states, is busily advancing its own agenda using any means necessary, including the Church. ”
How exactly Russia is doing that? By making priests to deliver pro government sermons? By making liturgy shorter or longer? By getting better burial places for the government officials? By recruiting babushkas as vicious assassins?
I guess they use music departments, choirs and ballet to promote Russian culture too? What about literature? Very insidious!
“How exactly Russia is doing that? By making priests to deliver pro government sermons? By making liturgy shorter or longer? By getting better burial places for the government officials? By recruiting babushkas as vicious assassins?”
These questions are better addressed to Mr. Lipper (LOL!).
I am saying only that state actors (ALL state actors) pursue their agendas and seek to gain advantage by using whatever economic, political/social, religious (etc.) means available to them. If there is a conflict in any of these realms they seek to capitalize on it to their advantage. Thus my qualifying statement: “I can easily accept the possibility that…”
By no means is this always a bad thing. Remember Radio Liberty? Fr. Alexander Schmemann (and others) used this tool of the U.S. Government to broadcast into the Soviet block for over 30 years. Fr. Alexander neither crawled into bed with nor directly aligned himself with the US government, but it cannot be said that our government’s primary interest in giving him this forum had anything whatsoever to do with the advancement of the Orthodox Christian Faith. It’s sole purpose, from the government’s point of view, was (and still is) to weaken a political opponent.
As I see it, there is nothing wrong with using the government. The Apostle Paul skillfully used Roman law to advance the Gospel, securing himself a free trip to Rome (albeit as a prisoner). The danger is the temptation to full alignment (I will advance your interests if you advance mine).
One should realize that both Greece and Russia were shaped by Orthodoxy – not only as a religion, but also politically and culturally. People often speak of Orthodoxy as “the heart of Greece” or “the soul of Russia.” This is not at all a bad thing in and of itself. (Would that it was true of the United States!) But it comes with temptations to which some succumb by thinking that the interests of the state and the Church are one and the same. This temptation persists as a cultural phenomenon among some even in the United States. How often, for example, are we horrified by those who cannot seem to distinguish the Faith from the land of their ancestors?
And are we not now suffering from misinterpretations (purposeful, ‘legalistic’ misinterpretations, if you ask me) of canons that were agreed upon in the context of a culture where this sort of‘ symphonia’ was considered normative in ways we in this country could never imagine?
This ‘symphonia’ was, in my opinion, a partnership of convenience that served both parties in very practical ways most of the time, for a time. The wise emperors were more than happy to have a moral, compliant, more-or-less unified citizenry with common values to advance their own economic interests (as well as, I hasten to add, those of the citizenry); and the Church was more than happy to enjoy the financial and legal support of civil rulers. But whenever the benefits to the government of such a citizenry became/ become more than the byproduct of the Church rearing her children in virtue…whenever any of her leaders became/become truly aligned (as described above) with the interests of government, there was (and is) corruption.
Let me be clear: I am not suggesting this sort of corruption in the MP. I am simply saying two things.
First, if such corruption were to exist, it wouldn’t be at all surprising to me, especially given the culture of Russia. I suspect that most who might be tempted toward such corruption would understand their actions as service to the Church. And do we not also see the same in much of Greek culture? The Greek Church and the Greek nation are barely distinguishable in the minds of many. And so it is that many in the GOA see it as one of their primary “Church” missions to leverage US power to advance what they view as the interests of the CP and Greece.
Second (and more to my main point), the notion that state actors in our day leverage conflicts in the Church for their own ends should come as a surprise to no one. However, as in the case of Radio Liberty leveraging of Fr. Alexander’s voice, it doesn’t necessarily involve propaganda, lies, or partial truths, although doubtless the opposing side perceives it to be so. The point is that the governments involved couldn’t care less as long as it serves their purposes.
It has been my experience that most of what is posted on that sited is verified elsewhere. They are usually quite accurate.
So much for your Russian troll theory.
Repeated is not the same as verified. As I said above, that’s how disinformation campaigns work: flood the zone, make half-truths more familiar than whole-truths.
Let’s run your reasoning the other direction. Most of what I read on cnn.com or foxnews.com is repeated on other Western media outlets. By your lights, therefore, I should not view those sites as propaganda sources or disinformation, and I should accept them all uncritically.
So much for your rebuttal.
Nice try. Many have challenged your “Russian troll” allegations, but you have not been able to offer any information as to what you consider propaganda. It seems that you are a troll from Istanbul! You don’t have to read these sites that you find objectionable. I can clear up all your confusion:
The CP uncanonically created a “church” consisting of unrepentant schismatics. These schismatics are seizing Churches from the canonical Church in Ukraine while they beat clergy and women and the elderly. The CP was clearly motivated by political forces in conjunction with his dislike for Russia. He was especially bitter because of the poor showing at his Cretan Robber synod. To this day, not one other autocephalous Church recognizes his schismatic abomination.
There ya go Martin!
There are some big claims there, sir. Could you please point us in the direction of the MP statement professing belief in the Third Rome theory? Has spzh.news ever published an article arguing for such? Please feel free to cite an instance. How does it fit in with the Kremlin doctrine of multipolarity in world affairs?
Spzh.news/uoj.org.ua exist at least for a decade. It’s site of Union of Ordhodox Journalists of Ukraine Союз православных журналистов hence СПЖ. Their articles got following among English speaking Orthodox during Cretan “council”… Do you have any other wild accusation to share
On a side note, remember when President Zelensky met with a large group of parishioners of the canonical church just a few weeks ago? Well, this just in: https://spzh.news/en/news/65100-zelenskij-uvolil-glavu-dubenskoj-rga–aktivnogo-protivnika-upc
When he said he would do something about the situation, he meant it. Glory to God. God bless President Zelensky! God bless the people of Ukraine! Slava Bogu!
Of course, I believe our media, George! Why, all of our problems are the fault of evil Mr. Trump and evil Mr. Putin. Didn’t you know that??
Horrid news: an unknown assailant attempted to burn a priest of the canonical church and his family alive:
https://spzh.news/ru/news/65125-pod-kharykovom-semyju-klirika-upc-pytalisy-szhechy-zazhivo-pozzhe–rasstrelyaty
No comment is needed, this is just simply awful.
Good grief! This is horrible!!!!!
Horrible, yes, as are all the works of Satan and of the people it has deceived into doing its will, whether they are sane or crazy, clergy or laity, politicians or voters.
Satan has been doing a lot of damage lately in southwestern Russia and in Constantinople — and in the American State Department.
May the Lord help us to resist Satan so that it will not infect all of us, the entire Orthodox Church.
‘Lord, Jesus Christ, save Your people and bless Your inheritance. Grant victory to us Orthodox Christians over our adversary, and, through Your cross, preserve the place where You dwell.’
I thought I’d file this story from orthochristian here:
https://orthochristian.com/124776.html
It’s now clear that as far as Bartholomew and Dumenko are concerned, the red-headed bastard stepchild they birthed in Ukraine is well on its way to “swimming the Tiber”.